Polished: December 2012

Monday, December 31, 2012

Christmas Presents (pic heavy!)

Whew! What a holiday! I finally found some free time to share my favorite nail-related presents from this Christmas. Be warned, there's lots of pictures!! :)

Definitely one of my favorites was this Mini Mani Month nail calendar from Ciate. Isn't the packaging just so cute? There 24 little doors to open, each with a nail polish inside (see above, right). The "doors" even have cute little facts, tips, and ideas as seen to the left. Another awesome thing, there's four bottles of caviar pearls (see left)!! The caviar pearls are basically colorful and sparkly little beads that are poured onto wet nails for a unique 3D manicure. I will probably be doing that soon to show you all! :)

Next up, we have a 60 second hand scrub. You may not be able to see, but there are tiny sugar crystals in the formula which exfoliate your hands. After a little while of scrubbing this around on your hands, the sugar dissolves, and you begin to moisturize. Once you rinse it off, you are left with hands that look like they spent a day in the spa (I took that last bit off of the bottle itself, but it is true!! :)

What you see above is a really neat kit to make unique glitter French manicures. And I can't wait to try it out! You can see some examples on the box... Off to the right are the five included glitters, which look absolutely amazing!!! They must have come from sparkly heaven or something. :) Also, above the glitter pots is the included top/bonding coat. The stickers are in the box, and this is literally all that you need, unless you want a base color!! How convenient and cute!!

Last up, we have some Cina Nail Art stickers. I included two shots so that you could see both packs well... The hearts are really shiny and come in several colors: purple, pink (a few different shades), and yellow. The flowers are pink and purple with yellow and white accents. I can't wait to try these either; they really make nail art so simple!!

That wraps up my Christmas post, so I have a few questions for you all. Have you ever tried any of these products? If so, did you like them? What was your favorite Christmas present (does not have to do with nails :)?

I'll be planning a "Best of 2012" post- or something like that, so stay tuned! Have a Happy New Year!!!
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Thursday, December 27, 2012

Christmas Nails (belated ;)

Well, I've obviously been way too busy... Not a single Christmas mani posted :/ So to make up for it, I have some pictures to share of the nails that I wore on Christmas Eve. They may have some slight tipwear as I took the pictures about three days later... :*)

The glitter actually looks great in these photos, and it was so pretty in person!! I originally had a red base and added a red glitter on top of that a couple days later. The two blended really nicely together, and I think I might wear it again sometime!

The red also went perfectly with my Christmas Eve outfit. Red is always such a pretty color for the holidays! It was a simple, easy, and quick design, yet it looks so elegant when it was finished.

And even though I had it on for days, it wore REALLY well!!! (and we're talking this is Christmastime- little cousins, present-opening, cooking, cleaning, changing into fancy outfits...)

The glitter polish was one of my Christmas presents; my parents got me a Ciate Mini Mani Month kit which has TWENTY-FOUR different nail polishes!!! Can you say 'heaven'?! My next post will have some of the different nail-related gifts that I got (prepare yourselves for LOTS of pictures :)!!

Colors used:
Base- Sally Hansen Salon Minis "red" (they're unnamed)
Glitter- Ciate Mini in Enchanted Rose (great name right? :)

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas, and will have a great, healthy, and blessed New Year!!!!

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P.S. I was in a "Snowy" mood considering it snowed both Christmas Eve and yesterday (the 26th) here in Maryland. Unfortunately, rain and "warmer" weather got to the snow before it could really build up. :'(

Sunday, December 16, 2012

White Nails for Newtown

In lieu of the terrible tragedy in CT (an elementary school shooting where 26 people- 20 were kids- were killed, for those of you who don't live here in the US and haven't heard the news...), many nail bloggers have been creating white manicures to promote peace and commemorate the lives that were lost.

I know that most people posted yesterday, but I was very busy, and really wanted to participate. Here's my design.

Once again, I'm using my 3D nail flowers which I absolutely love! When I was thinking of a white design, they immediately came to mind.

I love the look of them all together with the plain white nails. A very simple, yet elegant and pretty design.

If only it weren't because of such a horrid event... I can't believe someone could be so cruel as to hurt innocent little children... The stories and pictures have been all over Facebook, and it's crazy to see. The only good I can find is that people are banding together. That's what this mani is all about; everyone needs to work together to make our home safer and more peaceful.

I just counted the flowers on my ring finger, and there were 19. I wish I had thought to squeeze on a 20th to remember the number of children...

I hope this terrible event will remind you of the importance of peace and the uselessness of violence! Be sure to spend some time with those you love...

And to the families affected in CT, our thoughts, prayers, and deepest sympathy are with you... R.I.P. little ones, you're with God now!!!!

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White manis in honor of Peace, Non-Violence and Remembrance of the Innocent